Hanging objects on or from a vertical substrate, such as a wall for example, has been an every-day human activity for a very long time. Still today, however, this activity commonly requires careful measurement prior to the mounting of the suspension apparatus to the vertical substrate.
For example, when hanging a picture, the person hanging the object commonly seeks to have it located at a relatively precise location on the wall, often with respect to other structures in the room, other wall hangings, etc. Adjusting the position of the object after first suspending on a substrate has long presented substantial and well known problems.
One method of suspending objects from a vertical substrate involves mounting one or more hook-shaped structures to a vertical substrate and then attaching the object directly to the hooks. Often, the operator desires to move the object upwardly, downwardly, to the side, or both. Doing so often requires either or both of removing and re-mounting the hook structure or adjusting the mating suspension structure on the object if possible. Multiple iterations of this procedure are often required to “get it right.”
Even if the object can be moved to the side with a given hook mounting technique, the object will often tilt around the hook unacceptably. Further, the movement of the suspended object along the substrate often further damages the substrate.
Other methods allow for adjustment of an object's position based upon a stepped form of leveling. These methods may include a bracket fixed to the object that can be positioned on another bracket attached to a wall having two stepped channels, with the object bracket having 2 peaked portions that engage the stepped channels of the wall bracket. These methods provide for only one object position that is level by the nature of the stepped channels, thus allowing for only a leveling adjustment. Another disadvantage to this method is that each step is a specific adjustment that may not result in a level condition, for example if the steps are larger than a desired leveling adjustment. As a result, the object may not be able to reach an optimal leveled position without remounting the apparatus to the vertical substrate.
Other methods allow for only a lateral adjustment, such as attaching or hanging an object to a laterally sliding rail or other laterally slidable bracket system. One disadvantage of this method is that neither vertical adjustment nor leveling adjustment is supported, as the rail or bracket system allows for only movement in the lateral direction. As a result, it becomes particularly difficult to hang multiple objects in an aligned and evenly spaced manner without removing either the wall-mounted component or the object-mounted component of one or more objects, and subsequently reinstalling the removed components in order to achieve these adjustments. In many cases, this will result in damage to the vertical substrate or objects.
Still other methods allow for only vertical adjustment, such as hooks adjustably threaded to suspending structure secured to the substrate. These structures provide only vertical adjustment, and moving these structures laterally often results in substantial damage to the substrate.